Vanderbilt Kennedy Center (TN IDDRC, UCEDD, LEND) Works to Create Advocacy Education Opportunities for Community

February 15, 2020

The Vanderbilt Kennedy Center (TN IDDRC, UCEDD, LEND) has been creating multiple ways in which the greater Vanderbilt and Nashville community can gain skills in advocacy. With a LEND group project geared towards developing an "Advocacy Toolkit" and the Vanderbilt Kennedy Center's recent 2020 Educate to Advocate public policy workshop, Vanderbilt students, staff, and faculty work to make advocacy skills both attainable and accessible.

The Vanderbilt Kennedy Center recently hosted its 2020 Educate to Advocate public policy workshop in preparation for Feb. 4's Tennessee Disability Day on the Hill, during which disability organizations, family members and caregivers, self-advocates, and more schedule appointments with their elected officials to discuss disability issues and upcoming legislation.

VKC UCEDD director Elise McMillan welcomed attendees from across the state either attending in person or via Zoom live streaming technology. Carol Westlake from the Tennessee Disability Coalition began the evening's events by moderating a panel titled "Creating the Perfect Storm." Who needs to be "at the table" when creating disability legislation? Tori Goddard and Rondi Kaufman, two mothers of children with complex medical needs, shared their stories of advocating for their children and working with lawmakers to pass legislation for the Katie Beckett Waiver in Tennessee. Joining them on the panel were Tom Jedlowski, a public relations official who helped get their stories to the media, Mason Moore, a staff member of the Tennessee General Assembly, and JP Homik, a representative from Vanderbilt University's Office of Community, Neighborhood, and Government Relations.

Next, Carrie Hobbs Guiden of The Arc Tennessee shared information on updates in State and Federal disability policy, sharing steps made within the last session and what is coming up in the near future. Finally, Brian Keller of Disability Rights Tennessee gave a presentation on voter accessibility and how you can serve as a poll site accessibility volunteer during the upcoming election season. The entire 2020 Educate to Advocate session can be seen by clicking here.

In Vanderbilt Kennedy Center's LEND 2019-2020 trainee cohort, Diana Janus, Seth Manning, Kelly Webb, and Kayla Rayne Withrow bring different professional experiences to the table in order to create an Advocacy Toolkit for Interprofessional Healthcare Teams under the guidance of Dr. Debbi Slawson (Public Health) and Dr. Donna Cherry (Social Work). This interprofessional group has been developing a series of web and print-based resources designed to help people advocate for their loved ones with neurodevelopment disorders. Manning, Webb, Withrow, and Janus are compiling resources that focus on several aspects of advocacy, ranging from how to effectively advocate while interacting with legislators to ways in which one can gather information on needed services. The toolkit will help interprofessional healthcare teams by providing information about crucial topics such as family dynamics and normalizing the need to investigate a proper diagnosis. The group is currently compiling this material with the goal of providing help when and where it's needed most, and will plan to pilot their efforts through a peer review process soon.